Chi-X Names Fildes as Australia CEO to Replace Fowler

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Chi-X Australia Pty appointed John
Fildes as chief executive officer to lead the company, which is
the only rival venue to ASX Ltd. for equities trading in the
nation.

Fildes, who previously ran strategic development for Getco
LLC in Singapore, joins Chi-X this month and will replace
current CEO Peter Fowler, who will step down May 1, according to
an emailed statement. Fildes oversaw the entry of Getco and
Instinet Inc. into the Australian market in former roles.

Chi-X, backed by Nomura Holdings Inc., which began trading
in all S&P/ASX 200 Index companies in November 2011, has
consistently had at least 10 percent of market share each week
since December. Chi-X Australia and ASX compete as the only two
public venues of stock trading in the nation.

“This is a real inflection point,” Fildes said in a
telephone interview. “The key priority is to get it to 15
percent market share, then 20 and 25 percent, as quickly as
possible. I need to get my feet under the desk on Monday morning
first.”

Fildes is in the process of relocating from Singapore to
Sydney, where he begins work with Chi-X April 8. Chi-X and ASX
have faced competition from operators of so-called dark pools,
venues that don’t publicly display participants and prices.

Trade Reporting

The alternative venue opened a trade reporting facility in
May 2012, allowing share purchases negotiated off-exchange to be
reported on its order book, accounting for some of the increase
in volume on the platform.

While trading competition exists in Australia, the
alternative platforms must use the main bourse’s clearinghouse
to trade. Regulators postponed a decision on allowing
competition in the business for two years in February.

“It’s disappointing that competition in clearing was
postponed for two years because that would have delivered
significant benefits to Australian investors,” said Fildes.
“There’s been a lot of change over the last few years and the
Council of Financial Regulators was cautious about putting more
change into the market place.”

Chi-X Global

Chi-X Global Holdings LLC also owns alternative trading
platforms in Canada and Japan. The company announced last May 11
that it would shut Chi-East, a joint venture dark pool with
Singapore Exchange Ltd., citing disappointing volumes.

“John Fildes has worked in or with the Australian market
for two decades and is a well-regarded member of the Australian
trading community,” Tal Cohen, chief executive officer of Chi-X
Global, said in the statement. “He has held senior positions
with various market participants and made significant
contributions to industry bodies through his interaction with
regulators and government.”